Global Health Topics

Written By Erin Stair, MD, MPH ( Dr. Eeks) You are never alone. It may not be comfortable to think about, but tons of tiny organisms live inside us and affect our health. The microbiome refers to all of the microorganisms that live in our body. The term microbiota refers to specific populations of […]

By Rachel Lynch: Cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide, according to the World Health Organization, with 12.7 million new cases and 7.6 million deaths in 2008. Included in that statistic is a rare, but preventable, form of cancer – mesothelioma. The disease is caused by exposure to asbestos, a naturally occurring fiber and […]

Hi guys, Dr. Eeks here. For the record, any blog I’m associated with, I try to make that known in the first few sentences. So, this blog has to do with me. Recently I wrote a guest pieces for the National Association of Mental Illness ( NAMI) on stigma, doctors and med students with mental […]

Hi guys- Eeks here. First, apologies for the cloudy video. You can still hear me, and that’s what matters. :O) Before you watch it, I just want to say this: Sometimes our “ignorant” actions and words are due to lack of exposure. They come from an innocent place, not one of hate nor entitlement. I […]

Whenever we hear of extreme bullying that involved children or teens, we are outraged and rightfully so. As teen suicide rates are reaching alarming highs, this sensitive issue hits a collective nerve. But does bullying actually cause depression? What Causes Teen Depression and Anxiety? In truth, there is still a lot we don’t know about […]

Bad weather makes for bad moods, just like good weather makes for good moods. It’s pretty simple, and I don’t think anyone would deny that relationship. If you are even slightly prone to depression, rainy, cloudy days can increase your emotional angst exponentially. A string of rainy days can send a depressed person spiraling downwards, […]

Not that I’m a fashionista, though I do love the natural, boho, minimalist style. And I most certainly love color. Living in NYC, I mostly see blacks and greys– I’m always in a state of constant craving for COLOR. Plus, color significantly impacts your mood, for the better and for the worse. I’m happy to […]

Dear Mental Health “Professionals” diagnosing Trump from a distance, Thank you for providing supporting evidence that giving someone a mental diagnosis is a completely unscientific and subjective endeavor. You’ve done nothing but shovel dirt from the ground for your grave. I sincerely hope psychiatric patients, their families, mental health advocates and anyone who has every […]

I enjoyed the movie Silver Lining Playbook. It humanized mental illness in a way that Hollywood often doesn’t do. Hollywood loves mental illness but many movies don’t bother to capture the nuances. Most moviemakers cherry-pick dramatic, provocative manifestations of mental turmoil, all of which help fuel the stigma that “mentally-ill” individuals are dangerous, scary, […]

Assholes. We all know one and we all have to deal with them. Sometimes they make us ridiculously angry and make us want to respond in unproductive, unkind ways that are less than zen. And sometimes we choose to respond, even though responding does absolutely nothing for us in the long-run. Most […]

Lots of people have asked me who I’m voting for: Clinton, Trump or a 3rd Party. Currently, the only thing I can honestly vote for is more substance. We aren’t electing a pope. Pope Francis already clinched that title and shows all of us up in the morality department. We are electing a president […]